The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-06-29
LOND0N'S NEWEST LION.
BUFFALO BILLS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
FOR PATRONS OF THE WILD WEST.

n Sample of the Yarns He is Telling His
Royal Friends--How He Got His TitIo--
other Facts in the Career of Mr.. Cody.
| was born in February, 1912, in the
State of Iowa. need not go into detail
respecting my family, and can dismiss
my youth briefly by saying that when L
was not on Il horse ! was just being
thrown of one. | soon became pretty
smart rider, and my practice with gun
was pretty good, too. was II years
when l killed my first Indian. 1t hap
pcned rather sudden. ! was waiting out
by the river, near Fort Kearney, one
night about 10 o'clock, My companions
quite alone, when looking up toward the
bluff bordering the river | saw, illumi
mated by the moon, the head and shoul-
dcrs of a live Indian, watching me with
evident interest. Now l had heard
many stories of the doings of the red
mon, and had also been inculcated with
u thorough distrust of their ways; so,
/ quickly coming to conclusion as to
what [ should do, | brought my gun to
my shoulder, and aiming at the head,
fired. The report sounded louder than
usual in the silence of the night, for it
was past 10 o'clock, and was followed by
n war whoOp such as could only be built
up by an Indian, and the next instant
over six feet of dead Indian came down
splash into the river.
Soon, ofi tl,iC | % I
took to the plains, and in the employ of
Messrs. Russell and Simpson, soon
learned the ms and outs of the wild life
led with horses and cattle driving teams,
riding express ponies, and getting to
know the land. Among other things, l
somehow found out how to hunt buffalo,
a sport second to none, if you know
how l shall never forget the faces of
five officers | met OH the prairie once,
now many years ago. They were after
Il herd Of buffalo. SO was L. We ex-
changed views. ! gave them my ideas,
they gave me their sympathy. "You
surely don't expect to catch buffalo with
! that Gothic steed, said they.
81 am going to try" ! said.
| "GOu'll never do it, man alive" said
the captain. "It wants a fast horse to
/ ovcrtakc buffalo
'Does it?" responded.
'Nes, but you can come with us, if
| you like"
And L did like. There were eleven
builalos i'll the herd, and while the
officers rode straight at them, L headed
the leaders and got up to them with
case. The horse which my companion
had been chatting was the famous Brig
ham, who knew as much about the sport
as did; he speedily did his part of the
business. few jumps brought us up
to the herd. Raising "Lucrctia Sorgia,"
my trusty weapon, aimed at the first
animal, fired and brought him down,
/ Brigham, like the ideal animal that he
/ was, carrying me rapidly up to the next
brute, not ten feet away; and, when /
| had dropped him, bounded on to the
next, and SO ON, until | had slain the
whole eleven animals, and then my
horse stopped. dismounted to regard
my work with feeling Of satisfaction.
Those officers rode up shortly, and |
shall never forget their expression as
they surveyed the work of five minutes
! lying around.
My horse Brigham was an exception
ally intelligent brute. He took the
kcenest delight in sport, and invariably
took pains to aid me in getting gamo.
All he expected OF me was to do the
shooting. The rest was bis work. He
would always stop if the buffalo did not
fall at the at the first shot, SO as to give
me Il second chance; but if | did not
bring him down then he would go on
/ disguSted.
I 1t was in 1867 that the Kansas Pacific
track was in the buffalo country, and the
company was employing over twelve
hundred men i'll the making of the road.
] 'Ihn InllnnC ,,I,lncn,,,o
| it was not always easy to get sufficient
supplies OF fresh meat for the men. 1t
was about this time that Mcssrs. God
dard, the contractors to the constructors,
made me handsome offer, provided L
would undertake to hunt for them. They
required twelve builalos per diem. The
work was somewhat dangerous, owing to
the Indians, but tho terms were hand
somc-$5UO per month. | took the offer,
and in less than eighteen months, dr.r-
ing which time my engagement lasted.
| killed 1880 buifalos single handed.
and had many scrimmagcs with che In
dams, and hairbrcadth escapes, 1t was
during this period OF my c&roDr that |
had my celebrated buffalo killing match
with Billy Comstock, the noted scout,
then at Fort Wallace. The terms were
settled rs follows: We were to hunt one
day of eight hours, from a. IN. to D.
m. The stakes were $500 side, and
the man who killed the most buffalo was
to be declared the winner The contest
took place twenty miles east from Sheri-
dan, and many thousand people came
from all parts to see the sport. We we,.o
fortunate in finding animals, and Lad
/ plenty of sport. We made three runs
each, and / killed sixty-nine b,Iffalos.
my rival being content with f.orty-six,
Not II bad days work, day T1hich is an
hist rical one for me, inasrluch as since
then have invariably been referred to
in all parts of the civilized world as
Buffalo Bill